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I learned why you should not split a basic job over two days.
The RR caliper was toast and since the car had been off the road for a year I decided to do pads and rotors on both sides and replace the bad caliper. So on a recent Sunday I get the old pad, rotor and caliper off, then pull the LR to stick in new pads and the rotor. I decide the LR caliper should really be done too, so I call AutoZone (good remans at $63 each) to get the caliper. It's not in the local warehouse but will be there by Tuesday. So I close everything up and go inside.
Tuesday comes and so does the caliper. I put in the pads, mount the caliper, bleed the brakes and I'm done. I do one short drive--15 miles. Things are good.
Then Saturday, coming back from skiing (36 mile round trip), right as I turn into the driveway, I get clanking noises from the RR. Stuff is obviously breaking.
I get up by the garage and park. I look underneath. There is an outer brake pad lying on the ground. It has deep gouges on it. Part of the pad material is missing. This, I think to myself, is not normal! I yank the wheel and find the caliper is wrecked because one of the bolts that hold it in place is missing.
SO....
When I stopped working on the car the week before I failed to tighten the retainer bolts, probably figuring I'd do them when I bled the system and did the rest of the work on Tuesday. And by Tuesday I'd totally forgotten that I hadn't finished up on the RR. The bolts backed out and one fell off. The other was finger tight.
Which is why it can be dangerous to split some jobs over more than one day.
In 40+ years of wrenching, this is the dumbest thing I've ever done. and it could have been seriously dangerous. The problem with doing a job you've done many times is that you can be on autopilot and do dumb things.
Was glad I'd gotten the parts from AutoZone. Made getting the replacement very easy! Called them Saturday afternoon and the part was there Sunday. Put the bolts back in and made sure to use thread locker. (BTW I got new bolts at the local hardware store, 17mm heads with right bolt size and thread pitch.)
Be careful wrenching. Avoid those brain cramps!
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